wtfeWays They Frame Engineering
日本語

The United StatesvsSouth Korea

アメリカと韓国USKR

Seen from the United States: each line below describes South Korea relative to the United States.

Swap: see the United States from South Korea

Culture Map: eight scales

Erin Meyer's eight scales, sorted by how far apart the United States and South Korea sit, largest gap first.

Filled dot: the United States, where you are looking fromHollow ring: South Korea

Where you will notice the difference5 scales

  1. Communicating

    South Korea leaves more to be read between the lines than the United States (5 steps)

    The United States −3, South Korea +2, on a line from −3 (Low-context) to +3 (High-context).

  2. Trusting

    South Korea builds trust through personal relationships more than the United States (5 steps)

    The United States −3, South Korea +2, on a line from −3 (Task-based) to +3 (Relationship-based).

  3. Leading

    South Korea keeps more distance between boss and team than the United States (3 steps)

    The United States −1, South Korea +2, on a line from −3 (Egalitarian) to +3 (Hierarchical).

  4. Evaluating

    South Korea gives negative feedback more indirectly than the United States (2 steps)

    The United States 0, South Korea +2, on a line from −3 (Direct negative feedback) to +3 (Indirect negative feedback).

  5. Disagreeing

    South Korea avoids open disagreement more than the United States (2 steps)

    The United States 0, South Korea +2, on a line from −3 (Confrontational) to +3 (Avoids confrontation).

Not placed3 scales

These scales are left unmarked: either Meyer leaves a country off the scale or no source places it, and drawing it anyway would be guessing.

  • PersuadingMeyer leaves South Korea off this scale and describes its reasoning as holistic
  • Deciding, SchedulingNo source places South Korea on these scales
† position taken from a review or summary, not from Meyer's own chart.Positions are read by eye from Erin Meyer's published charts and rounded to seven steps. A step means “further towards that pole”, not a measured distance. How the positions were read

Hofstede: six dimensions

Scores from 0 to 100, sorted by the gap between the United States and South Korea. They describe national averages, not either country's character.

  1. Uncertainty avoidance

    South Korea scores 39 points higher than the United States (85 against 46)

    The United States 46, South Korea 85, on a line from 0 (Tolerant of ambiguity) to 100 (Avoids ambiguity).

  2. Indulgence

    South Korea scores 39 points lower than the United States (29 against 68)

    The United States 68, South Korea 29, on a line from 0 (Restrained) to 100 (Indulgent).

  3. Long-term orientation

    South Korea scores 36 points higher than the United States (86 against 50)

    The United States 50, South Korea 86, on a line from 0 (Short-term) to 100 (Long-term).

  4. Motivation towards achievement and success

    South Korea scores 23 points lower than the United States (39 against 62)

    The United States 62, South Korea 39, on a line from 0 (Consensus-oriented) to 100 (Decisive).

  5. Power distance

    South Korea scores 20 points higher than the United States (60 against 40)

    The United States 40, South Korea 60, on a line from 0 (Low power distance) to 100 (High power distance).

  6. Individualism

    South Korea scores 2 points lower than the United States (58 against 60)

    The United States 60, South Korea 58, on a line from 0 (Collectivist) to 100 (Individualist).

Country averages. About 80% of variation in values is between people inside a country (Taras et al. 2016).Source: The Culture Factor — Country comparison tool (2026).About the Hofstede dimensions

What the sources say, theme by theme

Entries for the United States and South Korea, side by side on wide screens. Each keeps its own confidence label and citations.

Design & quality

United States3 claims

  • At Google, engineers write a relatively informal design doc before writing code. According to Malte Ubl (2020), the point is not an exhaustive specification but a record of the trade-offs and alternatives considered.

    Thin1 source2020us-design-1

  • Ubl says a design doc should be as long as necessary and as short as possible, and distinguishes it from a heavyweight waterfall-style specification.

    Thin1 source2015Datedus-design-2

  • Meyer places the United States on the applications-first side of the Persuading scale. A book summary describes this as starting from conclusions and examples and favoring the practical how over the theoretical why.

    Thin1 sourceus-design-3

South Korea3 claims

Failure & risk

United States2 claims

South Korea3 claims

Feedback & code review

United States3 claims

South Korea2 claims

Hierarchy & decisions

United States2 claims

South Korea4 claims

Communication & docs

United States4 claims

South Korea2 claims

Work & careers

United States5 claims

  • According to the BLS, median employee tenure in January 2024 was 3.9 years overall, the lowest since January 2002. In the private sector it was 3.5 years.

    Well attested1 source2024us-work-1

  • At-will employment is the default in every state except Montana. Unless the reason is illegal, either the employer or the employee can end the employment relationship at any time.

    Well attested1 sourceus-work-2

  • According to layoffs.fyi figures cited by TechCrunch, tech layoffs in 2024 exceeded 150,000 people at 549 companies. The peak was 2023, with about 260,000.

    Attested1 source2024us-work-3

  • In the Stack Overflow Developer Survey 2025, 45% of US respondents work fully remote, the highest share among the top responding countries. Median salaries were $200k for engineering managers, $175k for back-end developers, and $138k for full-stack developers.

    Well attested1 source2025us-work-4

  • In Staff Engineer (2021), Will Larson sorts Staff+ individual-contributor roles, which do not require becoming a manager, into four archetypes: Tech Lead, Architect, Solver, and Right Hand.

    Attested1 source2021us-work-5

South Korea7 claims

Open source & community

United States2 claims

  • According to Octoverse 2025, the number of US developers on GitHub grew from 10.2 million in 2020 to 28 million in 2025, the most of any country. The US ranks second to India in open source contributors and first in total contributions.

    Well attested1 source2025us-oss-1

  • The same Octoverse 2025 report says the US, UK, and Canada more than doubled their developer counts from 2020 to 2025, while India and Brazil more than quadrupled. Its 2030 projection puts India ahead of the United States.

    Well attested1 source2025us-oss-2

South Korea4 claims